New Moon in Aries: Astrology of 4/11 – 4/17

It’s an eventful week with heavyweight transitions! Surrounding the New Moon in Aries, Jupiter and Pluto form an exact sextile, Mercury stations direct in Aries, Saturn stations retrograde in Capricorn, and Chiron leaves Pisces and enters Aries. It’s not unlikely that you too, are in the midst of transitions. Jupiter and Pluto’s harmony at this time can support our experience of abundance by letting go of something. When Saturn stations, we reconsider the structures of our responsibilities, our codes, and our careers. A New Moon in Aries signifies the birth of new attitudes; perhaps a new mission of some kind. And as Chiron trickles through the last few seconds of degrees of Pisces before moving into Aries, truly consider if some themes around personal healing have come to a culmination point recently. Did you have a transformational insight? Has a longstanding issue finally changed? Consider if there are any grievances you have that you can meaningfully forgive – relinquishing any ego attachments you might have to states of being you don’t exactly like, but for whatever reason find justified. That’s high magic. It doesn’t mean you cease to be a moral person who acts on the good, but it does mean you free up your Qi for greater flows of joy, receptivity and thrival — and that you can act in accordance with your higher self from that place instead. Read on, for more specifics on this week’s transits.

This is a beautiful subtle transit to catch – setting up a synergy between sensual pleasure and spiritual realization/transcendence.

Watch for: aesthetic/ambiance that allows daydream or spiritual vision, more easily accessible compassion, heightened love for the body and for the senses.

Venus is square the nodal axis in Leo/Aquarius, while Neptune forms a semisextile to the South Node and inconjuncts the North Node. We may feel highlighted experience of incongruence between what we would value/what feels enjoyable versus how life actually is. Take care to indulge in dream as a portal to materialize a more resonant life, rather than to cut yourself off from dreaming because the task of materialization feels too impossible.

“When I was eleven years old I wrote a play which prefigured my life philosophy. It was a melodrama with an unexpected climax. A blind father and his devoted daughter live in extreme poverty in a shack. But the daughter describes their life, their home, their garden, their friends in terms of beauty and comfort, creating an illusion for her blind father to lull him. Then a doctor comes to the village and operates on the father’s eyes. He can now see again. Tragedy? No, when he opens his eyes to the shabby reality, he does not collapse or feel betrayed. He tells his daughter: ‘It is true you described something which was not there, but you described it so vividly that now I can set about to construct our life as you had dreamed it.’ The dream has to be translated into reality.

The dream, scrutinized by scientists in various experiments, has been found to be an absolute necessity to man. It keeps our psychic life alive, in its own proper climate. It sustains a life not corruptible and not susceptible to the pressures of society. When we ceased to believe in this spiritual underground, to nourish ourselves on feelings, our lives became empty shells, automatic, mechanical. We only believed it when it showed symptoms of neurosis. Literature and the poets continued to assert its presence as the source of creation.” – Anais Nin in The Novel of the Future

April 14

Jupiter in 21 Scorpio sextile Pluto in 21 Capricorn: 2:58 AM PDT

(Image: Laurel Bustamante)

This alignment has been exact on January 15, 2018 and will be exact again September 12, 2018… we have been in a Jupiter-Pluto gestalt and will continue to for a little while!

One of the weather patterns of this transit can be a theme around major gains and losses. By losses, we can look at the way energy is transmuting or recycling. Wealth can be thought of as an addition of some kind, but with these planets wealth is also emergent from letting go. As we focus on what is more valuable or more alluring, we might also realize what we have to let go of in order to move toward that source of allurement. As an example, someone who really falls in love with someone but has difficulty opening up to others or committing might find themselves editing and refining these personality structures if the draw toward love is strong enough. An athlete who really wants to perform at their highest potential might get up early to train and give up a social nightlife to some extent.

If there is something you really want at this time, consider what is cluttering your magnetic field and what you might let go of – what addictions, habits, beliefs might need to go.

As the inverse, the feelings of not having agency or not having power which propel the need for this development: how does one’s soul feel so inhibited or out of alignment with its external reality?

The potential for having direct experiences that educate us on what we are enmeshed/entangled with – how we are weavers, and how we are being weaved. The potential to have more clarity at this time around refining our connectivity and our webs.

Mars in 15 Capricorn sextile Neptune in 15 Pisces: 10:27 AM PDT

In general, Mars-Neptune contacts relate to inspired action. (In a shadow sense, it can be delusional action or zealotry.) Here we might consider the tangible consequences (Capricorn) of acting on our vision and inspiration. Over time and consistently, such a path is actually a way of creating our own life versus just doing what we are prescribed. This experience can be enlivening and produce a more vivid life – like we are on the cutting edge of dreaming up our lives.

Another consequence though that is trickier is that when we act on our imagination and vision we become more thoroughly responsible for aspects of reality that we weren’t before. Capricorn has oversight or a managerial kind of consciousness that would be useful to tap into. The more we are educated about the lay of the land and how things work, the farther we might be able to extend. When it comes to acting on our inspiration, perhaps we simply need models for how to do that. Spiritual teachings like law of attraction, manifestation techniques, etc. provide ample blueprints for how it is we walk through reality as people who act on inspiration versus social conditioning alone.

While you may notice a shift – such as communications/technology running more smoothly and starting to feel less backlogged on paperwork, chores, etc., Mercury doesn’t leave retrograde shadow until May 3 – when you will notice another level of Mercury’s return to direct function.

Mercury has been square Saturn throughout it’s retrograde, leaving many of us to be doing lots of “work” throughout, sometimes to overwhelm as Mercury rx can relate to backlog.

Mercury stations within conjunction to Chiron in the last degree of Pisces. Have you noticed major themes around personal growth and healing coming to a culmination around this time? (Perhaps a deep wound starting to heal, major breakthroughs, etc.) Mercury stations in such a way as to highlight these themes in a way we might be able to find intelligible/communicable.

New Moon in 26 Aries: 6:57 PM PDT

This New Moon is certainly not boring… The Sun and Moon are sandwiched between Eris and Uranus in Aries, and the four of them square Pluto in Capricorn. Eris and the Sun and Moon are also in orb of squaring Mars and Black Moon Lilith in Capricorn. Here are some things to look for/think about.

Emergence or coming out IS an interruption of some kind; it is discord. However, in different situations and environments, coming out is touchy or rewarded. It is possible that in the friction of standing out or emerging more fully as oneself (or launching an extension of oneself into the world such as a new business or new work of art), we accelerate our learning both about ourselves and the culture we find ourselves embedded in. We definitely stir the pot.

The creative tensions between the young and the old (or the metaphorical young and old).

The support of family, ancestry, and other deep lineages which can be invisible yet to those who know how to contact them, very visible/effectual.

The pain, intensity, and gravity of the birth process; “it hurts to become” (Andrea Gibson line); the initiatory aspect of painful or restrictive experiences which forge us into particular trajectories.

The radical experience of freedom/emancipation on the other end of crucible.

A deeply libidinal, profound wellspring of creative and ambitious inspiration; fiery new vision.

The feeling that one will prevail no matter the cost; the discovery of deep reserves of energy and motivation (when the vision is inspiring enough or survival instinct kicks in).

A quality of innocence or being over one’s head and taking on more than one knows how to handle that is yet coming from a deeper place of wisdom – a wise or perhaps informed leap into the unknown. Learning by doing. The drive to have experience so that one can grow.

An intenser need to manifest or to self-actualize; the potential for jealousy to arise and teach us about desires we have.

April 16

Venus in 20 Taurus opposite Jupiter in 20 Scorpio: 11:59 PM PDT

Note that Pluto in Capricorn is sextile Jupiter and trIne Venus – which places us in a Venus-Jupiter-Pluto theme.

Feeling a tension between the familiar comforts and pleasures versus catharsis, change, and transformation. The potential for both of these energies to be fused. In a mundane way, it is like the image of a sauna – a place where people are both deeply comfortable/relaxed yet releasing and transmuting energy (sweat, and subtle releases).

The need to undergo transformation in a way that one finds aesthetic and/or meaningful – consciously undergoing journeying/depth processes in a ceremonial way.

Transformations in generosity, and feelings of abundance – the potential to tap into deeper resources, to illuminate hidden resources/reserves. Generosity expands in relationship to our feeling of abundance, or discovering how to be generous (without said permission of abundance) revealing to us our hidden abundance.

April 17

Chiron enters Aries: 1:09 AM PDT

Chiron is not totally done in Pisces this time around, as it will retrograde back into the sign of the fish toward the end of 2018. However, this is a major transit, Chiron changing signs! Pay attention to:

An increased sense of inner-force, anger, motivation, etc. which connects you to other layers of reality (raw feelings which open portals to new understandings).

The reality that rushing can cause injury or mistake; that using force instead of power or strong foundation can lead to injury. Don’t just do Mars – do Martial Arts. Mars requires us to wield, lest we be caught in our own line of fire.

If you don’t already have a physical practice that you connect to, consider the benefits of doing so. Having a sport that you sync with is a way to access your Mars, and accessing Mars gives us energy, vitality, and enthusiasm. Mars also speaks to some ecosystem in your natal chart (by house, sign, aspect, etc.) and when empowered, that Mars will positively empower whatever it is in relationship to in your chart as well. (Relationships between areas of your life as depicted in your natal chart are something I can illuminate in personal readings, if you would like to delve in further.) If you really don’t identify with being athletic such as for not being good at gym/sports when you were in school, finding a practice that activates your Mars can be especially healing and life-affirming. For those who cannot do sport for whatever reason, another activation for Mars is competition, speed, courage and perseverance as applied to other endeavors that call you.

Breakthroughs in self-esteem, self-love, self-pleasure. On the prior end to this, there is the emotional intensity or trigger that heralds such need for self-esteem. So if you should feel low on yourself, know you are contacting aspects of yourself which are also ready to shed, and aspects of yourself which are ready to grow.

Saturn stations retrograde in 9 Capricorn: 6:46 PM PDT

Saturn will station direct in 2 degrees of Capricorn on September 6, 2018.

More spaciousness is created between Saturn and Pluto, delaying their upcoming conjunction that exacts in 2020. If you track the Moon transits, you may have noticed that planets entering the midpoint-area of Saturn and Pluto connect the themes together and there is a heightened sense of pressure and compactness; a real deep kind of cooking occurring. A shadow potential of Saturn and Pluto together is to project blame onto an other, to separate, to isolate a problem in one faction/group and try to destroy that group. Of course we have seen this in history on a mass scale, but it happens in a micro sense too when we separate amongst ourselves, when we excommunicate, or when we parcel out ‘bad’ parts of ourselves to repress rather than to integrate.

A great way to prepare for the Saturn-Pluto conjunction can be to become increasing responsible for oneself and for living an authentically moral life. The greater we are in touch with our souls and can tangibly live out the integrity of our souls, the more enjoyable and rewarding a Saturn-Pluto transit is going to be.

As Saturn in Capricorn stations, we might find ourselves gravitating more toward the contemplation of the structures, commitments, and foundations in our life, and if they are strategically resonating with us at a deeper level or if they have become shells/obligations without substance.

Mercury has just been retrograde (and now direct this week) in square to Saturn… so in tandem with whatever re-thinking has occurred of late, now we might get to work in re-structuring the parameters, codes, and architecture of our lives to suit the new insights we have come into contact with.

Thank you for meditating on the planets with me this week! Let me know what you think in the comments.

Personalized forecast reading: Want to know how the transits specifically affect you? This reading is focused on how the current transits of now to six months out are personally impacting your natal chart. We’ll look at longer-acting outer planetary transits as well as significant transit events that exact their alignment in this six month window.

Natal Chart Reading: I offer an analysis of the placement of Pluto, the lunar nodes, and the planetary rulers of Pluto and the lunar nodes, to tune into a Soul-level interpretation of the natal chart. Because the Pluto and lunar node signatures make up what is like the base tone or root of the natal chart, we can access some insights on the deeper “why” questions of one’s life. In addition to providing a Soul-oriented portrait of the natal chart’s major themes, I synthesize any questions you may have with your natal chart’s wisdom.

Soulwork Sessions: Astrological consultations geared to answer your most pressing/difficult questions. Soulwork is a means through which I can provide guidance to anyone working with a challenging situation, paradox, yearning or existential question – something unresolved in your experience that you want to transform or have breakthrough with.

With love,

Sabrina Monarch

Sabrina Monarch is a soul-centered Evolutionary Astrologer who publishes weekly astrological forecasts and teaches. She has been collecting astrological experience for over a decade. She is a novelist and is currently pursuing her masters in Philosophy. She also enjoys kundalini yoga, meditation and ashtanga yoga.

Thanks for your comment! What you’re looking for sounds more like a Hellenistic technique, in which case I would recommend Adam Elenbaas at Nightlight Astrology. If you’d like to work with me, I have a few thoughts –

I practice Evolutionary Astrology, where the element of fate comes more in terms of Pluto and the deep unconscious. So rather than fate being something totally outside of us, it has to do with our agency (and external fate is like the default, when we don’t shape our own destinies). As I understand, even the ancients acknowledged this, knowing that one could alter their fate through spiritual means.

In Evolutionary Astrology and working with Pluto, the more we bring the unconscious to light, the more we have agency over our lives. I could look at karmic themes in your chart around love and how you could use your will/agency to magnify themes of love in your life, and to see what blocks you might have and how to loosen those up. It would likely require participation on your end to activate it, (I won’t be giving you a time when things just happen) but the information I can offer on the topic tends to be a catalyst, too.

If you’re super curious, you might enjoy getting a Hellenistic and an Evolutionary reading and seeing how they integrate.